Hope in the Heart of Sorrow
by xXGenericNarutoUsernameXx
Summary: Narutos birthday approaches, but he is filled with dread. Only one person can bring him out of the misery
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: This is my first story so please excuse me if its bad. I'm going to be updating it pretty often, or a least I'll try to. Also i obviously i don't own Naruto. If i did i would be submitting my fan fiction to a board of executives.**

Naruto walked home slowly from a late dinner at Ichiraku Ramen, a favorite ramen bar in Konoha. The taste of the last sip of broth still on his tongue, he couldn't help but smile. It was a good night for a walk, not cold at all. In fact, it had been unusually warm for this time of the year. He looked up to the sky to see the moon large and bright in the sky, bathing everything in light past what the streetlamps could provide.

_I could eat that every night, no, every meal! _He thought to himself, then returned his attention back to his walk, and to the dread in his mind. In a few days it would be his birthday he reminded himself bitterly, one of the days he hated most. Most people look forward to their birthdays, but not him, he practically refused its existence until it was upon him, which may be the worst thing for him to do, for then the wave of emotions crashed down even harder. Ever since he talked to his mother while trying to take control of the Nine-Tails' chakra, he is plagued with the knowledge that his parents both died over him. It wasn't that he wasn't thankful, or that he didn't love them, only that…. Well… he was always alone from that point on. Even Jiraya, his own godfather didn't enter his life until Naruto was old enough to become his pupil as a shinobi. He did make some friends in those years, and most of them were still in his life, although some had died in the war. Now he was faced with another birthday that, although his friends wouldn't forgot it, would be spent alone.

When he reached his house he stopped. There was one friend that he couldn't help miss the most, her smiling face illuminating his thoughts, driving out the bad. He pushed her aside however, replacing her with the dread. That was how his birthdays went mostly; Naruto was in that mood where one almost wants to be sad. He opened his door and tossed his shoes off, glancing at the picture of a young Team 7,

_So long ago… how old will I be now? 20, yeah that's right._ Naruto never believed the elderly people in the village when he would ask them how old they were and they had to seriously consider their answer, but now he understood why. He looked around his apartment, thinking about the other shinobi his age that only just got their own places to live and how refreshing it must be to have space, but to him….. It was just another reminder of the sadness. However one new thing for him was the attention he had been getting from the village elders as of late. After his exploits during the fourth ninja war, he had been tested time and time again and was gaining even more popularity among the villagers. Everything was shaping up to make him the sixth hokage. His friends were achieving in their fields as well. Ino Shikamaru and Choji had perfected their formation and were now being sent on some of the toughest missions the village had to offer, and were already being called the best Ino-Shika-Cho group so far. After Sasuke returned, he had pursued the idea of hokage for a time, but abandoned it after seeing the paperwork that was required, and after realizing how restraining the job could be as a result. Instead he decided to join the ANBU. Usually they wouldn't have taken him due to his age, but they made an exception because of his obvious capabilities. Kiba Shino and Hinata were still working together, despite having squads of their own if the village ever needed a tracking unit put together fast that could still hold its own in a fight. Lee and Tenten also worked together at the academy teaching the taijutsu and tools portions of the curriculum to the students. Then there was her, Sakura Haruno. Naruto's stomach fluttered at the thought of her. He even imagined the smell of her before getting himself under control.

_What was the point_ he thought with anguish, flopping onto his bed with a pout. There wasn't one he decided, after remembering the numerous times he had been shot down. Why would she decide now to find him attractive? With that he drifted off to sleep, but not before letting his imaginations wander to her one last time.

The next morning he woke in a cold sweat. The nightmares had begun a few nights ago and he knew they would not go away until after his annual torment. They always had the same theme, Minato, Kushina, fire, pain, Kurama, death, and suffering. Nevertheless it was all part of the process, and to his dissatisfaction, he was getting used to it. Naruto was a generally happy person, so he didn't enjoy the thought of himself growing accustomed to such things. However he decided it was inevitable, and sat up in his bed. Looking around his room he realized what a mess he left it in. Clothes were strewn across the floor, and there were empty take out boxes mixed in with them. He squirmed in disgust as he thought of himself letting a part of his house get this messy, but decided it was too big a job for right now. He swiveled himself around on his bed and got up, walking to his bathroom. He looked in the mirror and saw that he himself was in little better shape than his room, so he took a shower to rid himself of the perspiration that still clung to him. Afterwards he slipped back into the pants he was wearing the night before, and sat down to a cup of tea to start his day. He never used to drink the stuff, but realized with enough sugar it tasted like candy, something Sakura scolded him for constantly. Being one of the top medical ninjas she was always going on about what was and what wasn't healthy.

"What am I going to do today?" he wondered aloud, realizing he had taken the next days off. He used the excuse every year of trying to enjoy his birthday with his time off, but in reality he simply didn't want to slow everyone else down with his mood and how tired the nightmares left him. Looking around he was thankful that the rest of his house was clean, giving him one less thing to worry about. While he was thinking about it, there was a knock on his door, but when he went to answer it, no one was there. He wondered if it had been his imagination, or if it had been one of the damned kids that had moved in with their family a few weeks ago next-door. They were always getting into things, and he had already promised himself not to help them if they were being attacked by another kid, or a large rodent. Still though, he thought he smelled something in the air, something sweet.

"Probably something they knocked over" he mumbled and retreated back into his house to watch something on T.V.

Sakura was ashamed. She hadn't forgotten he friends' birthday, rather, she had simply come a day to soon. She had been planning to surprise him with lunch on the day and had even gotten a reservation. While she knocked on his door, she just happened to look at her watch and saw that it was the ninth. Naruto's birthday. Or so she thought until she remembered that his birthday was actually the tenth. As quick as she could she ran around a corner in hopes of avoiding embarrassment. Soon enough she heard Naruto's door open and slowly close. She felt lucky that she was fast enough, or their friendship may have hit a rough patch. She looked down at herself in dismay, she had dressed up and was planning to take him somewhere nice. She had even put on her cherry blossom perfume. Afraid it may have lingered in the door she decided to leave then, but as she turned around she nearly kneed a small boy in the face, who she realized must have been staring at her butt.

"Hey!" she shouted angrily, but instead of seeing the child scurry away in fear like most kids his age, she only saw him give a mischievous smile.

"What are you doing around Naruto's house?" he prodded

"Excuse me?" Sakura was taken aback with the bluntness of the question, and the meaning it seemed to hold to the boy.

"You seem a little dressed up, and that perfume… you must be over there to take him out on a date or something" he said with a wink.

"No no no it's not like that" Sakura said "We are only friends and-" she stopped mid-sentence as he slowly walked past her and rounded the corner. Curious, she followed but immediately regretted it as she saw his hand moving to the door in front of him, Naruto's. She knew what was about to happen, she was about to be tossed into this awkward situation by this kid. She had to do something, without thinking she leapt forward and delivered a light punch to the child's face, sending him careening into a pile of rubbish, dazing him and creating a loud thunder. She knew the child would be fine, she was taking plenty of punches like that from Ino at that age; nevertheless, she opted to run far far away from there. Just as she left, Naruto poked his head out the door annoyed, saw the child unconscious in a pile of garbage, and closed his door once again. Once inside, he caught another whiff of the sweet smell he had before, and knew it was familiar but couldn't quite place it.

**I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. I'm going to put up the next chapter in a few days. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note: I hope you guys like this chapter a bit more than the last, it's a bit more exciting. By the way if you see"-" then that means that the point of view has changed. I still don't own Naruto. Obviously. Otherwise I would be jet-skiing behind my yacht.**

After seeing the kid rolling around in his garbage, Naruto decided that he needed to get away from whatever other annoyances would befall him should he choose to stay around. Thinking of an excuse for himself, he chose to do his grocery shopping for his time off now and get it over with. Plus, he was just about out of instant ramen, the main item in is diet. Pulling on a white t-shirt and switching his pants to jeans, (he didn't feel in the mood for the loud orange pants he usually wore) he made his way out of the house, deriving a small amount of sick amusement from the look of misery on the boy's face as he slowly regained his consciousness.

It was a beautiful day in Konoha, one that he would have enjoyed if not for his present mood. The sun was out and it wasn't so hot that it was uncomfortable. He looked up and saw small wisps of clouds dotting the predominantly blue sky. As he walked towards the store on the corner, he seemed to notice families more than usual, and looked at the ground solemnly. He always notices them more often around this time, and was just about to turn back to his house when something grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back to reality. As he looked up he caught another smell of the sweet scent he found near his house, and saw Sakura looking at him from his elbow.

"Hi Sakura-chan!" he said in mock pleasure, immediately slapping on a happy face as to not upset her. He wished he could be honest with her but knew that that wasn't the right thing to do,

"Hello Naruto" she said with a smile. She was just walking away from his house and spotted him and since she was going to spend the day with him anyway decided to at least say hello. She gave him a quick look over as she usually does with him, expecting to see several flaws in his outfit, but found none. His shirt was clean and wrinkle free, and his jeans weren't dirty either. He looked better than usual she decided as she got back to the conversation

"How are you? It's a really nice day today"

"I'm good" Naruto replied, again concealing his true feelings. "I just came out to get some food then I was going to go back home, you look nice today, are you going somewhere?"

"Oh no, just out for a walk." She said with a slight blush, partly because of her original plans for the day and because not many people complimented her. She was thankful that he didn't notice though, because knowing Naruto he would take it the complete wrong way.

"Do you smell any perfume? I've been smelling it all day and it smells like something you would wear." With that remark Sakura's anxiety skyrocketed. What if he put two and two together? She had to come up with something to say.

"No" She said lamely, however she felt confident that that would be a sufficient answer for Naruto.

"Okay I guess." Naruto said, shrugging nonchalantly as he began to walk again. Sakura thought that she noticed a slight pain in his eyes but wasn't sure and decided to ignore it.

"Do you want someone to walk with? I'm heading the same way" Sakura said cheerily. Naruto reluctantly agreed, he didn't really want to be with anyone right now, but decided it wouldn't kill him so he and Sakura began to walk. Naruto started to tell Sakura about the children that moved in recently and how he found one of them garbage picking that morning, however he was thrown off by just how hard Sakura laughed at the news. Naruto didn't mind though, instead he allowed his eyes to wander up and down her dress. It was a flowing white one that was longer in the back then in the front, with small designs made out of a fabric Naruto didn't know the name of. As a man, Naruto was more concerned with how the dress looked then what its material was, and he very much appreciated the outfit she had on. He jerked himself away when he realized just how long his eyes had been lingering and chose to attempt another look later on. He didn't want to get caught, he remembered the last time not so long ago when he had and rubbed his head, checking to see if there were any cracks in his skull. She did not notice however, for she was still laughing at the story about his new neighbor. He loved her laugh, and her smile, but was not in the mood to focus on those things right now, instead reverting back to his glum mood on the inside.

Once they got to the store they went to separate sections of it to get their own goods. Naruto took the fastest way to the ramen of course, but Sakura realized she had nothing to get so she went back to him. Before she made herself known however, she decided to give him another look over. There was just simply no way that there wasn't something wrong, or some stain on his clothes. It wasn't that she wished bad things on him she was just surprised. After knowing him for so long it was hard not to form expectations about how he would look. From the safety of the cookie shelf, she scrutinized him. As she was doing so she realized how long it had been since she had really looked at Naruto. She began to pick up on things that she never would have otherwise. Coincidentally, they were all things that made him seem slightly better looking than she remembered. A muscle here, a stray hair there, and slowly she began to realize that Naruto looked good today, really good. Maybe it was how his hair was still wet and wasn't as spikey, but there was something she liked. As she watched him she noticed him weaving a hand sign and continued to observe him suspiciously.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu" He whispered and suddenly five additional Narutos showed up amidst puffs and began to climb on top of each other, forming a ladder until the original could climb up and sit atop the highest one. As she watched, Sakura began to understand what he was doing and laughed to herself. Naruto had built himself a ladder for the sole purpose of reaching a limited edition instant ramen pack from the top shelf.

"Only Naruto" she said to herself and was just turning around when she heard something. She turned to see the bottom Naruto struggling with the weight of the other five. In an attempt to regain his balance he grasped onto one of the shelves near him, but to his dismay it came loose and he began to fall, taking the others with him.

_This is it. _Naruto said to himself. Shaking himself from his bad mood for just five minutes, Naruto dedicated his mind, body, and soul on the item six shelves up. He couldn't believe it. After fifteen years of going to Ichiraku Ramen he had finally found it. The one thing that could be better than Ichiraku. Instant Ichiraku. After years of pleading to Teuchi the old man finally let up. He must have, because there was his beautiful shinning face staring back at him from the top shelf. Naruto had to act fast, so he built his clone ladder and began to climb. He was worried however, he never liked to have more than five including himself in the ladder formation, but decided that it was worth it to add the sixth. Unfortunately, just as he grasped the family-pack of instant Ichiraku he felt the ladder sway. He looked down to see the bottom clone quake under the pressure. Before Naruto could act he was falling. The fall seemed to last a lifetime. Not because he was fearing for his life, but because the Ramen was slipping from his hands. In a desperate attempt to save the precious package he leapt from his perch and grasped it tight, but not too tight, he didn't want to crush the noodles. However, without realizing it he positioned his arm right against his bottom rib, the most fragile one, and when he landed on his arm, felt a sharp pain engulf his left side. He looked to the noodles and was thankful that they were safe. He tried to get to his feet but as soon as he did he felt another jab of pain on his side, causing him to drop to one knee. He decided he should probably set the ramen down so he didn't drop it. Then Sakura was there asking if he was okay

"I'm fine Sakura-chan really" he said, but Sakura could see the pain on his face and demanded that he go home so she could take a look at him. When he objected she reminded him that she was a medical ninja, it was kind of her job. Reluctantly, Naruto agreed.

After they checked out, for Naruto refused to leave the ramen he worked so hard for, they started their walk home. Because of his side, Sakura had to support Naruto most of the way.

_Unbelievable that he can't leave without those noodles, he could be really hurt_ Sakura thought as she saw him cashing out, still gripping his side. Once he was done she pulled his arm over her shoulders to support him and wrapped her arm around his waist, resting her hand on his core, can't helping but notice how hard the muscles under that hand were. Then she began to lead him down the street. Much to both of their discomfort, they were bombarded by many curious glances and stares all the way until they reached Naruto's building. When they got there, they were met by the two young brothers that were Naruto's neighbors, and when one saw Sakura he immediately ran, urging his brother to follow. Naruto chuckled to himself; he remembered the days he found her more intimidating then attractive.

Once they got home, Naruto was told to go lie down on his couch. As he hobbled to his objective, he was thankful that his house was clean with the exception of his room. On the other hand however, he was extremely disappointed with how his day was shaping up. He probably couldn't think of a better way to embarrass himself in front of the entire store and Sakura. He looked over to her from his couch to see that she was already rummaging through his cabinets to find some sort of thing to wrap his chest with. Once she returned she looked at him disappointedly.

"You don't have anything here Naruto"

"What?"

"You literally have no medical supplies whatsoever. How can someone like _you_ not have anything like that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked, acting offended

"I mean that I wouldn't be surprised if this happened to you more times than this" Sakura replied with a disapproving look. "Now _I'm_ going to have to fix you"

"What are you gonna do?" Naruto asked warily.

"Listen, I need to see if your rib is broken, if it is, I can fix it quick and you'll be fine. But if I don't it could be a big problem later."

"Okaaaay," Naruto said dramatically

"It'll only take a minute." Sakura assured "Now as little as I want this, you're going to have to take your shirt off."

Naruto of course over reacted and pretended to act violated, and refused. Saying that he "doesn't feel comfortable having her see him" and that he was "terribly self-conscious."

"Get over it" Sakura said, "and take it off."

Naruto inched off the shirt, pretending to cry as if he was being molested. In reality however the pain was so terrible that he wanted to cry. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle, but it still hurt. With his shirt off Sakura began to work, however found his abdominal muscles a rather large distraction. She had never realized just how good Naruto's body actually was, and caught her eyes lingering several times. There were scars everywhere which was one of the things that she really liked to see. This of course being a large weakness in the world of ninja, but it wasn't just that, she began to think about how muscular he was and how she wanted to run her hands over the rest-... She stopped herself mid-thought. She was getting out of control. Instead she focused on the rib she was mending at that moment with her chakra. The process went smoothly being such a simple one, and it took all of thirty seconds, yet part of her wished it hadn't and there was some sort of larger problem that demanded a larger portion of her time.

"You should be all good now Naruto." She said, standing up from where she was seated on the floor next to the couch.

"Thank you Sakura-chan" Naruto replied after a pause "Are you going to leave?" he asked

"Yeah I guess so, unless you hurt yourself again." She joked. Naruto returned the joke with a sarcastic smile and followed Sakura to the door. After they said their goodbyes Naruto immediately wished that she hadn't gone.

As Naruto was laying on the couch shirtless, he watched Sakura working on his rib. He could feel the soothing chakra flowing into him from her hands, but it wasn't her hands he was watching, it was her eyes. The emerald pools were beautiful, there was no denying that, and he had gotten lost in them several times before, but that wasn't what he was focusing on. Every now and then he would notice that although they were mainly trained on the area around her hands, they would begin to drift to some other part of him, like his chest or his abdomen, or a scar he had near his left rib. He tried to cover up his astonishment and looked away, but in his mind he was thinking fast.

_Is she checking me out? Does she like my body?No, that's impossible. But then that means she thinks I had a really bad body that wouldn't make sense either, _Naruto did after all take pride in being in top physical shape_ she has to either like it or not like it. I just don't know which one_.

Regardless of which one it was though, Naruto felt a slight flutter in his stomach at the thought of Sakura finding him attractive. If only he could know for sure.

"You should be all good now Naruto" he heard her say as she stood up. With a closer look he realized the dress was slightly transparent, and he caught a glimpse of her skin underneath, thinking about how soft and warm it must be before realizing it was his turn to talk

"Thank you Sakura-chan" he said while getting up, "Are you going to leave?"

"Yeah I guess so, unless you hurt yourself again." She said with a joking laugh. Part of him wished he did. As they reached his door they said their goodbyes and Sakura went home, but as soon as the door shut Naruto felt a wave of loneliness set over him.

_She had been holding it back_ he realized with a pang of distress. Ever since he took the fall over he hadn't even thought about his birthday or anything.

_It was just her_ he thought before hugging himself and returning to the couch for the rest of the night, save making himself some instant Ichiraku.

**I'll be updating this in a few days, please follow if you like it and review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: Sorry if this chapter is a little boring, but it needed to be here. Thanks for reading.**

Sakura returned home after walking from Naruto's and flopped onto her couch, disappointed and ashamed that she had confused the day of her best friend's birthday. She decided that the best thing to do for her own dignity would be to simply move her plans to tomorrow.

_Today wasn't a complete loss_ she decided, thinking back on her outing with Naruto that day, and smiled fondly at the memory. Was she just being stupid? Or did she really find him that appealing? She had never seen anything in him before, which was why she was so confused now. She just didn't know how she could have been with him all these years and only now notice such obvious things. Was it possible she had been so detached from him? She finally settled on the idea that she just never considered it a possibility to be attracted to him. She had been in love with Sasuke for so long, but after he was returned to the village, she began to lose interest. She found out that she was more in love with the idea of Sasuke then Sasuke himself. She had been in love with him when they were kids yes, but after he left she grew so accustomed to the feeling that she just thought it was what she had to do, as if she was somehow obligated to love him. When he was finally brought back of course she was happy, but the more time she spent with him… the less she liked him, and eventually moved on. Now that she was free from that love she began to realize what other options there were. She looked at several other guys before Naruto but...

She began to think about him that day. His hair looked so good. It was still a tad damp, and as a result didn't have the spikes it usually had. Although she liked it she decided that wasn't enough to change her ideas about him (although it did help), and moved onto his next feature, his face. It was kind and compassionate, but very good. It wasn't a muscular face, or especially chiseled, but it was nonetheless handsome to her. It was the face of someone as caring as he was. She blushed at herself, not willing to believe that she was taking this so seriously or analyzing him so thoroughly. Regardless she continued, going to his next detail, his body. She was slightly ashamed that this was the part she liked the most, not that the others weren't redeeming, it was just that it was so toned, and so defined. She knew that there were many good bodies in the ninja world, that was a job requirement, but for whatever reason his stood out in her mind as the definition of attractive. It would be all she could do tomorrow to keep herself off of him. She took a sharp breath at the thought of it, and how distinct every muscle was. She could easily spend an hour tracing the muscles of his upper body with her fingers.

_It's just not fair to have a build like that-_

**You know Naruto is the best looking guy you've seen in a while** interrupted her inner self. Sakura was a little surprised; it had been a while since her psyche had talked to her.

_You don't know what you're talking about _Sakura said before realizing the position that statement put her in.

**If I don't know then you don't know either. You just don't want to admit that you want to wrestle tongues with Naruto Uzumaki.**

_You need to stop_ Sakura threatened, although she felt heart race at the thought, and knew that her inner was partly right. _He looked good today, by chance._ But even as she said it she felt her heart go into another gear at the memory of how his body felt under her hands, and how excited she was for tomorrow.

**You know it wasn't just today; he didn't put on those muscles this morning. He's always been there you just never noticed. That's okay, but what are you gonna do now that you have? **

_I don't know! Probably nothing _Sakura told herself while cupping her face in her hands. She hated being uncertain about things. It was so… uncertain. Finally she shook herself and focused.

_He looked good today, that's it. There's no hidden meaning behind it, that's all. _She thought sternly

**Whatever you want to tell yourself, but I hope for your sake he doesn't have another accident, or you might end up a lot closer to him then you were today.** And with that Sakura's inner self left her thoughts.

_Figures you'd show up now_ she thought, annoyed. It seemed like she only talked to herself when there was some sort of drama with a guy, and Sakura rested on the explanation that her inner self was more sexual then she was. _That's okay, just as long as she doesn't find a way to take control of my body _Sakura thought with a slight laugh as she got off her couch. However she knew that her inner self was a bit more right then she would care to admit. The more she thought about it, the more appealing Naruto seemed, and the more appealing he was, the more her heart raced at the thought of him. His physical features weren't his only redeeming qualities however. Sakura thought that he was a really good person. After all they had been through and all she had put him through, from rejection to blatant mistreatment, he was still continuously there for her, always willing to help or protect her. But she didn't need to remind herself of that, he wouldn't be such a valued friend of hers if it wasn't for those facts. Now the question that was beginning to emerge was whether or not she found him attractive enough to try to take it a step further, or if she would be accepting the next time he tried to. Thankfully his interest was the one of the few things that she could rely on in this situation to remain constant. Just today she had caught him several times looking her up and down, but decided to let him. She laughed, knowing that her inner would say what it meant about Sakura's feelings.

**I told you- **Sakura's inner began before being interrupted by Sakura herself

_Shut up_ Sakura barked, and tuned out her inner self for the last time that day, refocusing her attention on the world outside of her thoughts.

Looking down at herself however, she became dismayed. If she was going to take Naruto out for his birthday tomorrow she needed to look nice and have something good to wear. Unfortunately for her, she knew that this was her last good dress that was clean. She began to do her laundry, but once she started to straighten up she whipped herself into a frenzy of cleanliness until her whole house was spotless and all of her dirty clothes clean and ironed. As she did her jobs, she flicked on the TV to check on tomorrow's weather. To her disgust it was forecasted to rain, meaning that unless they had a wonderful time, they would have an awful time. She only hoped that she could remember to bring an umbrella, knowing that Naruto wouldn't have something like that. For whatever reason he was a person who never wanted to spend money on thing unless it was absolutely necessary; with the exception of his ramen of course. She wondered what time she should surprise him at his house, and while thinking about the schedule she remembered that she had to call and move the reservation. The people at the restaurant were mad at first, but after hearing how Naruto had taken a fall and just couldn't possibly make it that day, they began to be sympathetic, and the reservation was ultimately fit in. Unfortunately, it could only be placed at a later time around six. The more Sakura thought about it however, the more she began to like the idea of dinner compared to the idea of lunch. Once she was finished cleaning, she glanced at her clock and realized that it was 10:30 at night. She had no idea how it had gotten so late so fast. There was no way that she had been cleaning that long, but then remembered the dinner she ate, and the several breaks she took to watch an episode of her favorite show and realized the clock must be correct. A wave of exhaustion hit her as her ignorance went away as to just how late it was, and she chose to go to bed. Happy that things were indeed falling into place, and satisfied with her apartment, she fell asleep excited to see Naruto the next day.

Unfortunately for Naruto his day had not been as full of the schoolgirl-crush excitement Sakura's had. Instead he was too depressed to do much at all. After Sakura left, his loneliness was worse than it had been before her appearance. For him the sensation was comparable to presenting food to a starving man, but snatching it away just as his fingers met the plate. All he wanted to do was confess to her all of his feelings; about her, about what his birthday was like, but he knew that she wouldn't accept him, or the pain he brought with him. He knew she cared about him, they were best friends, and as a result she knew him better than anyone, but he needed more. He wanted her to accept him for all he was, not just what he let her see. He needed to be able to wrap his arms around her and keep her there and fill the hole in his heart with her presence. And her touch. And her smell. And her kindness. Everything about her infatuated him, drew him in, and made him beg for another taste, another glimpse of her. He missed her. So much that it hurt; and he wished that every day could be spent with her. Perhaps it was just his annual loneliness that was having an unexpected side-effect, but he was growing even more madly in love with Sakura Haruno then he had been ever before.

The remainder of his day following the accident composed mostly of watching bad day-time TV, eating, and daydreaming about all that was bad in his life. Sometimes when he thinks about the time he spends near his birthdays a couple weeks afterwards, he comes under the impression that he hates the way he feels more than the thing causing him to feel that way. Usually he chastises himself for acting the way he does, and tells himself to get up and go do something, but the dread and pain are too heavy. That was the word for it after all. His anguish literally weighed him down. It was as if is feet were made out of lead. He hated this existence, anyone would. Being physically unable to do things because of your emotions is degrading, and it seems to make your dignity evaporate, which in turn brings more pain into your mind. There were several occasions that day where he would stand to go do something, only to sit right back down, unable to take even the first steps towards his goal. Eventually he just decided to give up on doing anything and went to bed at 7:30 when he finished his dinner, not bothering to clean up. As he struggled into his bed he thought of Sakura and their day in the hope that it might give him one last bout of happiness before his birthday, but wasn't that lucky. He woke up 8 times that night screaming, before giving up at 4 o'clock the next morning and deteriorating to the fetal position in his bed, drenched in the cold sweat his latest dreams had induced.

**Sorry that was so depressing, but please don't stop reading it'll get happy I promise.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: For anyone coming back that noticed that I kicked it up to M rating don't worry, no one is brutally murdered, and there's no intense sex scene, just some choice language. For those of you who are new I hope you like it. Please follow and favorite!**

Naruto awoke for the eighth time the morning of his birthday. He was screaming, just like he had the other seven times. It wasn't an ordinary scream; it was the scream of someone in pain, someone enduring torture and suffering. He knew that he had been screaming in his sleep as well, for his throat was raw and he tasted blood. He looked down at his chest to see three bleeding lines there, telling him he had raked himself in the night. He didn't bother to wipe himself off, but instead just laid in his bed, exhausted and out of breath. The worst parts of the nightmares were the physical repercussions like these afterwards. It was like watching an intense horror film; the movie scares you but the worst part to some is the way it haunts you for the next week. The nightmares were the same in that sense. Some of the scares inflicted on himself during those cold October nights have stayed with him for years, and he suspected that at least one of the three exacted on him tonight would be the same. He wrapped himself up in the sheets donning his bed in an attempt to warm himself but to no avail. He realized glumly that he had already tried this several times tonight, and by this point his whole bed was soaked with perspiration, leaving it cold, damp, and uninviting. Realizing that sleep was no longer a salvation, and that simply laying in bed wasn't either, he decided he had no choice but to rouse himself from his stupor. He sat up in his bed lethargically, having to practically throw himself up and stayed there, head in his hands, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The nightmares tonight were different, he had never had anything as bad until now. As he was struggling to recall the dream, he felt a pang of distress, and remembered the role Sakura played in his most recent nightmare. Something awful was happening to her, and it was somehow because of him. He shook himself from the vision, not ready to relive the experience, and looked at his clock between his fingers. It was 4. He was disappointed, usually he slept until at least 4:05 on these days, and when you're up all night every minute counts. As he dragged himself into his kitchen to get some tea, he thought about what was going to happen today and shivered, partly because of the sweat that still clung to his skin and partly because of the dread that still clung to his heart. He knew what this day would be. This day would be nothing but pain and loneliness. His actions and feelings became sporadic every October 10th; it was like a mild insanity. Sometimes one of his hands, or both, would begin to shake uncontrollably, and he was always anxious. Then suddenly he would become abnormally, uncomfortably calm. So calm it was like he was under the power of a strong sedative, and it was concerning. The first few hours went by in a blur, but then he began to drink. He usually didn't resort to this, and hated the thought of it. However the memory of Sakura yesterday made him especially lonely, and he couldn't cope. The more he drank however, the more upset he seemed to become, causing him to drink even more. This evolved into a cycle that eventually left him at the bottom of a once full bottle of Sake, and falling over drunk at 7:57 am. He eventually collapsed onto his floor at around 8:15, and didn't awaken for several hours.

When he came to he looked around him and found out that he was laying on his back on the floor, and that the room he was in room was upside-down and spinning. He attempted to remember how he got there but could not, he did faintly remember falling and not having the energy to get up though. He flipped himself over with a groan of effort, and felt his forehead collide with his floor afterwards, worsening his headache.

"Get up" Naruto heard a voice say, and lifted his bloodshot eyes to see Sasuke lounging on his couch watching TV.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto grumbled, slowly lifting to his feet and stretching.

"I know how you get on your birthdays so I thought I'd check on you. When you didn't answer I came in and found you here. I figured I'd stay until you woke up." Sasuke said, not taking his eyes off the TV

"Well I'm fine now, so you can leave." Naruto said, annoyed at the Uchiha's presence. Who did he think he was inviting himself in? Why do people do stupid things like that? He didn't want to see anyone, but especially no one as arrogant as this. "How did you get in anyway?" Naruto asked, looking at his door to make sure it wasn't broken down. Thankfully it was not.

"I know you leave your bedroom window open 24/7" Sasuke said, eyes still trained on the television and sounding slightly detached from the conversation.

"Well anyway, like I said I'm fine. So go." Naruto said, putting emphasis on the last two syllables, and saw Sasuke's head slowly swivel to look at him.

"You're not very grateful are you?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes venomously. "I try to do something good for you and all I get is-"

"Shut up Sasuke" Naruto interrupted, leaving the Uchiha with his jaw hanging open, his mouth still poised to make the next word. "Just shut up and go. I didn't ask you to come here, so just go." Sasuke closed his mouth and sat there for a few moments, both of them oozing tension. Finally he stood up from the couch and turned off the TV.

"Fine, whatever you want I guess." Sasuke said as he walked to the door "But next time you're passed out drunk, don't call me up for help, because all you'll get is a fuck you. Oh and," Sasuke looked back "happy birthday asshole" And with that Sasuke left, slamming the door shut behind him. Naruto looked at the clock, it was 2PM. Naruto walked to his kitchen and made himself lunch, instant ramen. He was devoid of all thoughts except his throbbing headache as he sat down to watch TV.

Sakura awoke groggily. Rays of sun were filtering in through her window and shinning directly into her eye. She rolled over and buried her face in a pillow, unwilling to accept the fact that it was time to wake up. She peeked one eye from out of her soft envelopment to look at her clock. It was 10:10 AM. She had slept for almost twelve hours last night, and she could feel it. She felt ready to take on the day, but then stiffened and shot her eyes open at the thought of what the day was. Her body relaxed, but muscles began to pulsate with excitement and anticipation. Her heart ached at the thought of the spikey haired blonde boy she was going to have dinner with tonight, and she flipped herself over in bed so she was laying on her back, suddenly awake.

_I can't believe I'm this excited_ she thought

**I can **commented Inner Sakura. Sakura laughed in spite of being agitated

_On the list of things that I do not want to hear from you right now, this is number one._ Sakura told herself

**What else would I say? I'm not going to stop bugging you until you start making some moves**

_No moves will be made tonight_ guaranteed Sakura, but felt a small pang of disappointment at the thought

**Yes well I'm sure of that. Just as long you go over there blindfolded **teased Inner

_You're getting a little bit out of control you know that? _Sakura asked.

**I'm actually just being myself. Ourself that is. **Sakura's inner said suggestively, and Sakura could imagine that if her inner self was an actual person that she would have thrown a wink onto the end of the statement.

_Do you actually think I should? I mean… No. Never mind._ Sakura shut down the thought before it began in earnest, but couldn't help but tremble once again at the thought of Naruto

**Never mind indeed, I think you're starting to listen your smarter half **encouraged Inner Sakura

_I hope you don't make up a whole half of me _Thought Sakura, wondering what her life would be like if Inner had control half the time, and how the portions of life she had control over would be spent apologizing to people her "smarter half" had wronged or otherwise made uncomfortable.

**What are we going to wear?** Asked Inner

I _am going to wear what _I_ want. Without any input from _you_. Don't lump us together. _Sakura said, annoyed

**Don't be such a bitch, I'm just trying to help. **Inner snapped

_I know what would happen if I let you 'help'. Every guy in Konoha would be after me. _Sakura snapped back.

**True, but if no one can see you except Naruto… What's so bad about that?**

_You do remember that we are going out to dinner don't you?_

**Yes, but if it was up to me, he wouldn't get out the door **said inner, in yet another statement that deserved a wink. However, Sakura was not about to engage in such a conversation.

_No no no, that's enough we are going to have a nice birthday dinner, and then I'm going home._

** Will you stop denying it already? **Inner shouted, giving Sakura a headache as the voice bounced around her head. **You want him. It's obvious and you know it. You also know that he wants you. So what's stopping you?! Get in there, and do something. There is literally nothing bad that could happen. **

_Oh yes there is. A lot could happen._ Sakura retorted

**Like what? **Inner asked

_Well!.. I mean…Ummm, _Much to Sakura's displeasure however, she could not in fact think of any repercussions, but wanted to have something to defend herself with.

_Team members shouldn't be together_ Sakura thought, satisfied with her response until

**That's bullshit and you know it. Tons of people do and look at them. Tsunade and Jiraya would be together if he was alive, and who would have said anything? No one that's who. Now get up. You need to look good for your date tonight.** And with an inflection of finality on the last sentence, Inner left Sakura's thoughts.

"IT'S NOT A DATE!" Sakura yelled after her, and sat up in frustration, but gave up when she realized Inner really was gone._Ugh, who does she think she is? She is so…. So… right. She's right. I want him. He's all I want._ She realized, feeling slightly defeated, but exhilarated at the same time. She got out of bed with an extra bounce in her step. She felt energized, even more so than someone who slept half a day ordinarily would; and as she went about her morning routines, she found she was smiling most of the time.

She took a shower at around 11, having laid in bed talking to herself. The shower was scalding hot, just how she liked it, and she stayed in there for quite a while, allowing the steam to fill her up and turn her bathroom into a small sauna, which she baked in afterwards. Once she felt thoroughly cooked through, she exited her bathroom and went to her kitchen, still wrapped up in a bath towel. She rummaged through her refrigerator looking for what would be lunch. She looked around her refrigerator door to her clock and saw that it was about noon

_Good, I still have plenty of time_ she thought as she got out an assortment of leftovers she had yet to eat. Once she had heated up and eaten them, she went back to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Everything there was still wet from the condensation, and the room was still warm. Once she was done with her teeth, she washed her face. She liked to keep a good complexion, and thought she did a good job of it, but was distressed to see that she was having a slight break out on the left corner of her forehead. As a result she scrubbed that area extra hard, leaving it significantly more red then the rest of her face. She hoped it would go back to its normal color before she went to Naruto's tonight to pick him up. On her way out of the bathroom she hung up her towel, leaving herself naked until she reached her room and pulled on her underwear. Once she had minimal amounts of clothing on, she opened her closet and looked across her selection. She immediately ruled out the left half of her closet, as that mainly composed of her shinobi clothes, which of course would be the last thing she would wear tonight next to nothing at all. As she perused her clothing she decided that she wanted to wear another dress, but was afraid that the rain would make it too cold to do so. Looking to her television for advice, she found out that although it was going to rain, it would still have the abnormally warm temperatures that they had been experiencing lately. She grew anxious and hurried back to her room, excited to wear a dress out tonight. She opened her closet to make the final decision as to what she was going to wear; her eyes resting on one dress in particular.

_Maybe….no. it's too much. _She thought.

**Do it** urged Inner Sakura **you haven't worn it yet, and you'll look great. It's not slutty, but it isn't too modest. Go on. At least try it on.**

_Okay. _Sakura thought, wary of the possible consequences that could result from listening to Inner. Nevertheless, she decided to try on the dress.

Once she had it on she admired herself in the mirror. She looked good, and so did the dress. It hugged her body tightly, but was not so tight it made her immobile. The dress was the same pink as her hair, with shoulder straps that came down to a neckline that was cut on her breasts and dipped down to reveal her cleavage. The rest of the dress hugged her stomach on the way down to the actual dress portion, which went down almost to the floor, leaving enough room for someone to see her shoes. Additionally, the dress was cut up to her hip on her right side, giving it a sexy edge over some of her other clothes. Another accessory she liked about the dress were the gloves that came with it, both matching her shinobi fashion and giving it a sence of elegance. The bloves were black, and came up past her elbow with a pink border at the top.

_I look good_ she thought

**Damn good **agreed Inner

_Thanks _Sakura thought with a blush, imagining what a certain man would think about the dress. She looked at the clock in her room and noted that it was 2:30, meaning she had to leave in two and a half hours at the very very latest. She frowned, not sure if she should keep the dress on or switch into it later. She decided on the latter, not wanting to get the dress dirty or stinky or anything that would make it less appealing in any way. She had just switched into some jeans and a tank top when she heard a knock at her door. She looked through the peephole to see Sasuke on the other side, looking frustrated. She decided to let him in but later realized that that may have not been the best thing to do.

"Hi Sas-"she began, but was interrupted when he brushed past her and sat down on her couch, immediately making himself at home. "-uke" she finished, Not that surprised by his actions. He was usually this rude to everyone so she didn't take it personally either.

"Have you seen Naruto at all recently?" he asked abruptly. Sakura was taken aback. Why would he ask that? Maybe he knew the answer already. Maybe Naruto told him something.

"Yesterday yeah, why?" she responded, as calmly as she could without sounding strange.

"Because he's a fucking asshole that's why!" he yelled, whirling on her. Sakura was surprised now. He was obviously mad at Naruto but she couldn't imagine why.

"What's wrong?" she asked

"I just told you, Naruto's a fucking asshole!" Sasuke said, repeating himself with just as much vigor as he did the first time.

"Well yeah I got that but I don't understand what brought on this epiphany" she said, mocking interest. Naruto and Sasuke got in fights all the time, but she couldn't help wondering why, or how they would get in a fight today.

"So I go over to his house to check on him right?" Sasuke began, but was interrupted by Sakura.

"What do you mean check on him?" she asked

"Well you know how he gets on his birthdays. Anyway-" but he was interrupted again

"What do you mean how he gets?" Sakura asked.

"I guess you wouldn't understand, never mind. A-ny-way" Sasuke began again, putting more stress on the last word then may have been needed. "I go over to his house today and I knock but there was no answer but I knew he was in the living room, so I went around to his bedroom and went in through the window-"

"Because that's okay" Sakura interrupted

"Will you shut the fuck up? I can't get past the damn beginning because of you"

"I'm so sorry Sasuke" Sakura said sarcastically.

"Whatever, but yeah so I get into his house and he's passed out on the floor drunk-"

"Wait he was passed out? Is he okay?"

"SAKURA FOR FUCK'S SAKE! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Sasuke screamed

"Okay I'm sorry it's just... I'm worried about him now." Sakura said and she looked down, concerned, and hugged her right arm close with her left.

"Yeah, well, whatever. So he wakes up and I'm like 'Hey' he's like 'Get out', then I said 'fuck you' and left. My point being he didn't have to be such a dick. I'm right, right?... Sakura? Sakura wasn't listening though, her mind was elsewhere, with the man that she needed to make sure was okay. Turning around to face her clock she realized it was about the time that she would start getting ready to leave anyway.

"Listen, Sasuke… I don't mean to be mean but-" she then heard a door shut and realized that Sasuke had already left.

_I'll deal with him later_ she decided, and went to get ready. After putting on her dress and a matching pair of shoes, and making sure that her hair wasn't tangled or messy, she left her house and started walking towards Naruto's. She was thankful that she had remembered her umbrella, because it had just started t rain. Although she held excitement, it was now mixed with a strange anxiety. She didn't know what she would find at Naruto's house. Would he be okay? Would he even be conscious? She hastened her pace slightly and was soon there.

When she reached his house she stood at the door for a second and padded down her hair and smoothed out her dress, making sure that it was straight and that the cut in the dress didn't reveal too much. Then she knocked and waited, then knocked again, and waited. Finally after the third knock Sakura heard a grumble from behind the door and Naruto answered. He didn't open it the whole way, so she only saw half his face and body. But just from what she could see his eyes were voids, not the usual bright blue seas of happiness they usually were; she wanted to change that.

"Hi Naruto," she said with a beaming smile "Happy Birth-" but was cut off by the door that was promptly shut in her face.

"-day" she finished, so shocked that her smile remained, despite how hurt she felt.

**Authors Note: Thank you very much for reading, make sure to follow so you can see the last chapter(s), and favorite to raise my self-esteem! Also review so i know what i can do better!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:Thank you everyone for reading; as always make sure to follow and favorite and review! I still don't own Naruto, if i did it wouldn't be so successful.**

Sakura shook herself.

_What just happened? _She asked, dazed by what had just occurred. Why would Naruto shut the door on her like that? She reached up hastily and knocked again, hoping for an answer she knew she wouldn't get on her first try. Then she waited, put off by how her day was going so far.

_Maybe this I what Sasuke meant by "How he gets"?_

She reached up and knocked again, harder this time, becoming slightly desperate.

"Naruto please open up? I'm worried about you." She called. After a few seconds she raised her hand to knock again, but just before her knuckles made contact, the door whipped open, revealing Naruto, but a Naruto that she did not want to see.

_Why is she here? _Naruto thought after closing the door on Sakura_ Why would anyone be here? At least she's gone now _Naruto said to himself as he slowly backed away from his door. He was beginning to panic. _Why is everyone showing up here, I just want to be alone._ He grabbed his hair and looked at the floor, only to look up again when he heard another knoc. He didn't move. He just stood there, holding his head. The knocking sounded far away. He began to step back but was stopped by another knock and a voice.

"Naruto please open up? I'm worried about you." These too sounded far away, but he caught one thing,

_How could she be worried about me? What does she know? Sasuke must have told her something. I'll kill him!_ He was becoming angry now, and he needed something to take it out on.

_What does she know about anything? She doesn't! She doesn't understand anything!_ He shouted to himself as he was taking steps toward his door. _I hate her! I hate everything! _He ripped his door open, revealing Sakura, her arm still extended and stopped. Everything stopped. Why was he mad? He couldn't remember, but he didn't really care. What he did care about however, was the beautiful woman in front of him. He looked around with his bloodshot eyes and realized that it was raining, and saw that Sakura was wet despite her having an umbrella. He wanted to invite her in but couldn't talk, so instead he moved back into his house, looking at her sadly, and retread into his living room, hoping that she would follow.

Sakura looked at the man in front of her. He had Narutos body, but it wasn't Naruto. This thing was too sad to be Naruto. As she looked at him she noticed his hair was a mess, like he had purposely messed it up. He had no shirt on, which revealed three scabbing lines on his chest. She looked back onto his face and saw nothing but pain there, just as she had when he opened the door the first time, but this pain was different. This was regret on his face, not the hurt and suffering from before. She jumped when he began to back away, thinking that he was going to close the door again, but when he didn't she hesitated, and eased herself through the threshold of his house. Leaving her umbrella in the hallway, she followed Naruto to the living room where she saw him slumped on the couch solemnly, his eyes downcast. She eased down next to him gently.

"Naruto…" He snapped up and looked at her as if he had forgotten he had company. "Are you okay?" She asked. He looked back down sadder than ever.

"It's complicated Sakura-chan, you wouldn't understand" He said, and scooted away from her, but stopped when he felt a pressure on his hand. He looked down and saw her hand overlapping his. He followed her arm up to her face and they locked eyes. He could lose himself in her eyes, but jerked back to reality when he heard her talk

"Maybe I can, I want to help." She said with a smile.

"You can't Sakura, I don't think anyone can. Not today at least." He said, and attempted to move away again casting his eyes down, but was stopped by her hand on his once more.

"Naruto please," She said as she put her hand on his cheek and raised his eyes to meet hers. "I want to help, give me a chance." They sat there for a moment, looking into each other's eyes, both thinking the same thing but not aware of it. Both were thinking how wonderful the others eyes were, and how they could each spend a day looking into the soft pools of color the other had. Naruto finally peeled himself away long enough to form a question

"Why are you here Sakura?" He asked in a cautious tone.

"Well," She began slowly while looking down; as if she was cautious too "It's your birthday, so I thought that maybe we could go out somewhere for dinner." She said, indicating to the dress as if it was proof that she was telling the truth. Naruto blinked twice with a shocked expression on his face.

"You," he said, pointing to Sakura "are gonna take me" pointing to himself "out to dinner?" he asked, still wearing the shocked expression

"Yeah," Sakura said nervously, looking away a little embarrassed at how he was looking at her. It made her feel a little stupid for having the idea. "I thought that maybe-" But before she could finish her thought she was interrupted by Naruto colliding into her and grabbing her. She looked back to him and realized that he was hugging her

"Naruto wha-" but before she could finish that thought she looked closer and realized that the man attached to her was crying.

"Naruto…" She said, stroking his hair with her hand. She hugged him closer to her, wishing that she could stay there, intertwined with him for a long time. They stayed there for a few minutes. Naruto was thinking of how much he needed this, not just today but permanently. He wanted someone to hug him back when he needed it. However, it wasn't just anyone that he needed.

_It has to be her_ he decided _I want her to be that person. _After a final sniffle he got up and wiped his eyes with his arm. Looking down he saw Sakura's worried expression.

"It's okay Sakura-chan, I'm fine" He said with a smile, suddenly in a better mood after crying, but while still wiping tears out of his eyes. "You look really nice." He said, looking down at her.

"Oh this?" she said, standing up and pivoting so he could see the whole thing "It's nothing really, just something I found in my closet." But even as she said this she had to turn away to hide her now scarlet cheeks. Once the bout was under control she looked back at Naruto to find him looking up and down her dress, paying special attention to the slit up the side, causing her to blush again.

"But Naruto, where we're going is kind of nice, and I'm sure they have a policy about having a shirt on anyway so you should go get changed." She said in an attempt to distract him from her long enough for her face to lose some color. She looked at Naruto's clock and saw that they still had an hour before they had to leave, and told that to Naruto.

"If we have so much time, can I take a shower? I haven't taken one today so I feel a little gross." He said, remembering himself waking up on the ground that very day.

"Sure, just don't take too long okay?"

"Okay." And with that the blonde walked into his bathroom, leaving Sakura in the living room. "If you want to turn on the T.V. you can." He called from the bathroom

"Okay." She called back, and was about to turn on the T.V. when

**What are you doing** inner asked aggressively

_What do you mean_ Sakura asked back, not thinking she had done anything wrong.

**Did you see him look at you? Or was I the only one who had the eyeballs at the time?**

_I saw, I know he likes the dress, so what?_

**He thinks you're hot that's ****_what_****. Now look at yourself** Sakura looked at her dress expecting it to have some stain, but couldn't find one. **Where are you? **Inner asked

_In the living room?_ Sakura said, confused as to what point Inner was trying to make

**And where is he?**

_In the show- _Sakura frowned _Goodbye Inner_ Sakura said, and clicked her off, but not before she heard a scream of protest from herself. Little did she know Naruto was having a battle with himself at the same time.

Naruto was once again saddened, but hope was peaking its way through. _What if she wants to be together now? I mean it wouldn't make complete sense, but she was really eyeing me up yesterday, and she's blushing a lot whenever I say something nice about her. Maybe something changed… I need to figure out. But what if she rejects me? Oh well, I'll have to try_ he decided, and got out of the shower.

A few minutes after she had finished talking to Inner she heard the shower turn off, and just moments later a still steaming Naruto stepped into the room wrapped in a towel.

"Do you see a shirt in here?" he asked, looking around.

"Umm no." Sakura said, not bothering to even give the room a glance over. The longer Naruto had to be shirtless the better in her opinion. His hair was still soaking wet, and as a result water was dripping down his neck and onto his chest, then down to his abdomen. She could have sat there watching the beads roll down his skin for a while, but she had to tear herself away when she realized she had been caught. She looked up to see Naruto's eyes locked onto her, watching her as she was watching water run across his body. She blushed and looked away, attempting not to look back up even when she heard him walking toward her. As he was getting closer she could smell him, and he smelled good. She kept her eyes trained on the floor however, even when he was standing right next to her. Out of her peripheral vision she saw his hand reach toward her, and felt it brush against and trace her collarbone, causing her to take a sharp breath and sit up a little straighter. A chill ran down her spine and she felt goose bumps pop up on her arm. Her heart was pounding, and she was sure he would feel a tremor underneath his hand. She looked up slightly to watch his hand reach her side and slide down to her hip. He leaned in close, so close that she could feel his body heat, and she was enveloped by his scent. She looked him in the eye as he got closer.

_This is it_ she thought, and was just parting her lips when his lips brushed past hers, grazed the side of her face and stopped near her ear. She felt his arm move off of her hip and felt something soft move from beside her over her legs. Glancing down she saw a white shirt being dragged by the hand that was once on her hip. Before she realized what had happened she heard him whisper

"Thanks for looking so hard" he said, and went to his room to change. Sakura sat there, frozen in place. Her heart was still pounding hard and her face was burning red.

**Girl you just got Narut-owned!** Inner blasted out in laughter

_Shut up!_ Sakura yelled back, furious yet exhilarated all at the same time

_Holy fucking shit I nailed that_ Naruto cheered to himself as he walked toward his room, proud of his work. _Who would have thought that Sakura's heart would pound like that? That could have gone either way though_ he thought as he put the shirt on. Walking over to his closet he picked out a suit jacket, and the nicest pair of jeans he had. He liked them because he honestly thought they were nicer than some of his dress pants, but they still looked cool. Once he had all his clothes on, he admired himself in the mirror.

_Pretty good_ he thought to himself _pretty damn good._ And with that he walked back into the living room, where he found Sakura in relatively the same position he had left her in.

"Are we ready to go?" he asked "Or should we wait for a minute? How far is it?" looking out the window and at the rain as he questioned Sakura. After a pause that was so long it caused Naruto to turn around in concern, Sakura said

"We should get going yeah." She said the words breathlessly, as if something had taken the oxygen right out of her lungs; however, Naruto practically had. Sakura looked at him from the couch, the shirt fit well, and it hugged his body enough to show some of the muscle he had. The jacket also fit well, accentuating his shoulders, and making them look broader, and him stronger.

_You clean up good Naruto Uzumaki _She thought as she got off the couch and walked toward the door_ really good_ thinking the last part as she grabbed her umbrella.

"Do you have one?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Umbrella? No I don't, can we share?"

"Sure, but don't get to close." she joked, not realizing how hot her face would get when she remembered what had happened so recently. Naruto laughed, but he had a gleam in his eye, as if he intended to get as close as possible

"The restaurant's not far," Sakura said "but it'll seem like it if you splash around like you usually do"

"Please Sakura, I'm much more mature than that." He said, receiving a disbelieving look from Sakura. The pair then made their way to dinner, each as excited as the other.

**Author's Note: Remember to review and follow and favorite! Thank you for reading!**


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